BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College junior right-hander Dylan Angelo (Ft. Johnson, N.Y.) became the all-time winningest pitcher in SVC baseball history Sunday afternoon as the hosting Mountaineers defeated Lesley University 14-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) series' rubber match at Bill Epstein Field.
LU scored first with a lone run in the second, but Southern Vermont took over with four scores in the third and another five through the next two innings. Just for good measure, the Mountaineers crossed the dish five more times in the eighth before giving up a hollow run to Lesley in the ninth.
SVC improves to 15-14 on the year, finishing a day above .500 for the first time this season. The Mountaineers are also 8-4 in NECC action, tying their most league wins since 2011 with six Conference games left to play. With the decisive victory, Southern Vermont has now taken three of its four league series this season. The Lynx drop to 14-16 on the year and 7-7 against the NECC with the loss.
Angelo went the distance, picking up his third win in as many starts as he moves to 5-1 on the season. All of his victories from the hill this year have been complete games as he has now registered more wins in a single season than any Mountaineer in history. His 10 career victories surpasses the program's previous high mark of nine that was tallied by Kurt Kowalczyk '14 in his Southern Vermont tenure.
With Sunday's triumph, SVC now has a 12-6 all-time series lead over Lesley and has won six of its last nine matchups with the Lynx.
Southern Vermont is next in action on Wednesday, hosting Newbury College for a 1 p.m. league doubleheader. LU heads to Eastern Nazarene College the same day for non-conference play, first pitch of that single contest slated for 3:30 p.m.
Mountaineer senior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Perth, N.Y.) went 4-for-5 from the batter's box to cap a great week for the SVC captain, knocking in two runs and scoring another pair. Sophomore right fielder Niko D'Agnese (Mahopac, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored while classmate third baseman Rob Spatafore (Mahopac, N.Y.) was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. Freshman first baseman Cody Sullivan (Brunswick, N.Y.) turned in a 2-for-5 showing at the dish, scoring a run and batting in two more.
Angelo struck out six Lynx batters on the day, now being just eight shy of tying the team's single season K record of 48. He gave up two runs and only one walk in the outing.
Lesley freshman catcher Justin Cervantes (Oxnard, Calif.) was 2-for-4 in the effort while sophomore first baseman Justin Clark (Chino Hills, Calif.) went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Junior right fielder J.P. Agiorgousis (Hanscom, Mass.) tallied a 1-for-2 day with a run scored, and freshman designated hitter Ryan Pumphret (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was 2-for-3 for LU.
Lynx sophomore righty Tom Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) suffered the loss (3-3) from the bump, giving up six earned runs while racking up a season-high eight strikeouts.
LU worked runners to second and third in the top of the first, but Angelo snagged come-backer his way to retire the batter and get off the field. The Lesley defense used an inning-ending double play to get out of the opening frame, making way for the visitors to tack up the first run of the day. A pair of Lynx got on base to start the inning, and the visitors utilized a sacrifice bunt to move both into scoring position. Agiorgousis would then score from third, tagging up on a fly ball sent deep enough to center off the bat of freshman second baseman Nicholas Ferragine (Randolph, N.J.).
Muratore appeared to be in a groove in the bottom of the second, striking out the Southern Vermont side in order. But the Mountaineers would get to him in the next box, scoring four runs to take a lead they would not relinquish. D'Agnese tagged a soaring one-out double to left before a fielding error loaded the pond for SVC. Freshman Dan Mason (Bloomingdale, N.Y.) came through with the RBI single slapped into left, and Pingitore followed with a two-run hit the same way to put his team on top 3-1. Sullivan then cranked a two-out double to right center, scoring Mason for the three-run lead.
Lesley once again used the sacrifice to get runners to second and third with just one out in the fourth, but Angelo worked out of the jam as he induced a fly out to shallow left-center and a grounder down to second. The Mountaineers then padded their lead in the bottom of the frame, Mercuri turning a lead-off walk into the score. Southern Vermont loaded up the pond, and freshman Zack Stacey (Saratoga, N.Y.) then rolled a one-out grounder to second; he worked his way down to first to prevent the inning-ending double play as Mercuri came home from third to make it a 4-1 game.
Angelo found himself in a bind once again in the fifth as three consecutive one-out hits loaded the bases for the Lynx. The Mountaineer junior persisted through it, however, as he sat down the next two batters on swinging third strikes to maintain the advantage.
Southern Vermont chalked up four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, doing so with four hits to go up by seven. Pingitore started the box with a single down to third, and he then came around from second on a Sullivan base knock ripped through the left side. Sullivan moved around to third and tagged up to score on a sacrifice fly by Spatafore, and D'Agnese then hit a hot shot to short that was deflected far enough away for sophomore John Arancio (Oradell, N.J.) and junior designated hitter Anthony Mercuri (Ridge, N.Y.) to cross the plate.
An LU lead-off single in the sixth would be harmless to Angelo as his middle infield turned an inning-ending double play, and the Lynx then got out of the home half of the frame when they cut down Pingitore at home trying to pull off the delayed steal.
Both sides stranded runners on base in the seventh, Angelo getting out of the inning with help from his defense. Pingitore made a stellar play up the middle for the first out of the frame, ranging far to his right to snag the ball before getting it to first in time to retire the runner. Sullivan then made a great stretch play at first to catch the throw from Arancio just in time for the out.
Lesley got runners to second and third with two down in the eighth, but D'Agnese was able to cover a lot of ground to reel in a ball hit to the gap for the third out. Southern Vermont extended its separation in the home half of the inning with five runs on six hits, all the scores coming with two down.
A fielding miscue at short allowed the eighth inning to continue as the first run came across, and SVC sophomore Austin Teitelbaum (Westhampton, N.Y.) registered a pinch-hit two-run single in the air behind second as the Lynx fielder lost the ball in the brightly-shining sun. Spatafore stepped up and blasted a two-run double to center, putting his team ahead 14-1.
Lesley was able to get one back in the ninth with help from a pinch hitter, freshman Daniel O'Donnell Jr. (Clark, N.J.) making the most of his call off the bench as he sent a lead-off double to deep left-center. Clark then singled through the right side, scoring O'Donnell Jr. with one down. Angelo retired the next two batters, the first being put away by D'Agnese who showed off his speed once again as he motored over to the line and made the sliding grab. Angelo then helped himself, leaping up to snag a chopper over his head and tossing it over to first for the game-ending out.